Ethics & International Affairs, Volume 24.2 (Summer 2010)

"In some situations," writes David L. Perry, "when sufficient time is available
before a decision must be made, people of integrity—warriors and spies
included—will need to draw upon a range of moral emotions. In other instances,
though, split-second decisions will not permit [such] sophisticated analysis." Partly
Cloudy: Ethics in War, Espionage, Covert Action, and Interrogation, the sixth volume
in the Scarecrow Professional Intelligence Education Series (SPIES), introduces the
reader to a range of ethical issues faced by U.S. military and intelligence personnel.
Drawn from Perry's doctoral dissertation, university lectures, and academic discussions,
this collection of essays sheds light on the complexity of our moral choices and the
difficulty, especially in war, of navigating the ethical principles that bind us.

Perry, director of the Vann Center for Ethics at Davidson College and a former
professor of ethics at the U.S. Army War College, makes his central thesis clear
throughout—namely, that "good ethical decision making cannot be reduced to
a short checklist or model," and that clarity in ethics is sometimes impossible.
Such chapters as "Comparative Religious Perspectives on War," "Espionage," and
"Covert Action" use practical as well as theoretical examples drawn from moral philosophy and intelligence studies, as well as present the author's own thinking about military ethics and the just war tradition. Clearly written and accessible, the book
offers a thoughtful introduction for those entering the intelligence profession or those
simply wishing to develop and sharpen their ethical reasoning skills.

Joyce Appleby has produced a historical account of capitalism that neither obscures
its great tragedies nor minimizes the scope of its triumphs. Rejecting a historicist
framework in favor of one that accounts for both chance and necessity, Appleby rewards
the reader with a capacious discussion of the development of one of the defining features
of our world. Her goal is to show how capitalism is as much a social system as an
economic one, but to do so while "shak[ing] free of the presentation of the history of
capitalism as a morality play, peopled with those wearing either white or black hats."
In so doing, Appleby stresses the magnitude of changes wrought by capitalism, and the
system's seemingly endless ability to create wealth; but she is fully cognizant that that
very same system has led to worker exploitation, environmental degradation, and vast
material inequalities.

Appleby's multicausal account surveys economic, political, social, and intellectual
developments that catalyzed the emergence and consolidation of the capitalist system.
For instance, in one chapter, "Crucial Developments in the Countryside," she
describes how innovative English farming techniques in the sixteenth century greatly
diminished the prospects for famine in that country, liberating men and women from
a predestined life of agricultural work; in the next chapter, "Commentary on Markets
and Human Nature," she shows how philosophical texts by such thinkers as Adam
Smith and John Locke interacted with economic and political events in England to
encourage the spread of capitalist principles. Indeed, Appleby traces the development of
capitalism from Portuguese overseas trade in the fifteenth century to the 2008 financial
crisis. As the author surveys such diverse terrain, the veracity of her thesis becomes
readily apparent: that we cannot separate our social and political life from our economic
one, because the latter not only has social consequences, it is itself a consequence
of our social and moral worlds. Thus, Appleby notes that while capitalism
is in fact a "relentless revolution," it can hardly be construed as a "mindless one."